Family reaction to USA v. Ghana

Daniel says, "US players, you have to keep the ball out of your net to win, here try again with my ball." (Our reaction to Ghana's goal in the fifth minute.)


Our mood the morning after the USA was eliminated from the World Cup.

Referee Rating: 2010 World Cup Final - Netherlands v. Spain

Howard Webb realizes the highest refereeing honor as the center referee for the World Cup Final. Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey are his assistants as always. All three referees will hope that the talk after the game will be about the play and not their decisions. However neither Webb nor his assistants will be afraid to step up and make a big call if there is one to make.

14' Easy call for the foul on Puyol.

15' It was easily a foul by van Persie, not necessarily a yellow, but the challenge was from behind and ended up two-footed even though it didn't start out that way.

16' That was easily a yellow for Puyol.

18' Good call on the offside by Villa.

22' At least Webb won't be accused of letting van Bommel off easy. Of course van Bommel made that decision easy.

23' The challenge by Ramos was late and high, but not necessarily a yellow. It did look worse at full-speed though.

26' That looked like a foul by Sergio, not on him to me.

28' That was a dumb challenge by de Jong. Probably should have been a red.

31' Good advantage, too bad Pedro did nothing with it.

33' Busquets made no attempt to play the ball, just put a shoulder into Robben.

36' Easy call for the foul on Sneijder.

43' Sergio is really annoying me calling for a card for every foul committed by the Netherlands.

45'+2 Good call by Mullarkey on the offsides. While van Persie didn't play the ball, he did obstruct the view of the Spanish defender covering Kuyt.

First half rating: Good. 7/10. Some might criticize the number of cards shown so far, but it seems like they calmed the game down and all but one of them were easily classified as reckless. As for de Jong's yellow instead of red, I can only assume Webb saw it as reckless instead of excessive because de Jong only had eyes for the ball. It could have easily been a red though and it would be interesting to know what Webb thinks of the challenge now that he will have seen a replay or two of the challenge. I expect he might have second thoughts. It would be nice if I had a DVR so I could see Webb's positioning and de Jong's challenge frame-by-frame, but I have to make due with ABC's replays.

46' Iniesta flopped a bit there.

49' Neither van Bommel nor Xabi looked like they were trying to play the ball nor could they have.

54' That was a yellow only because of the position of the foul. Van Bronckhorst knew what he was doing.

56' Webb tried to play the advantage while Villa made a meal of that.

58' That wasn't "minimal contact" on Sneijder as Ekoku (commentator) said it was. It was a foul, but no more than that.

62' Great run by Robben, he was easily onside. Great save by Casillas.

67' Easily a yellow for that foul on van Persie. It looked like he could have stayed on his feet though.

68' Not sure what happened there with van Bommel. Great call by Mullarkey on a close offsides.

73' Good call for the foul on Iniesta.

78' That was not a foul on Iniesta. It probably should have been a yellow for him for his reaction though.

83' I don't think that was a penalty, but I'll hve to see a replay. Nope, an arm, but that wasn't even a foul by Puyol. That was a good card for dissent by Robben.

88' Easy call for the foul on Villa.

90' Easy offsides call by Cann on van Persie.

92' Fabregas dove. Xavi kicked Heitenga and then dove. What unsportsmanlike play from Spain. I'm firmly rooting for the Netherlands now. It had been half-hearted support since Robben was rolling a bit, but Xavi's insistence on a card for every foul on his team had me on the Dutch side.

96' Not really sure what the foul was on that corner.

102' Good offside call by Cann.

108' Easy call on the ball out of play.

109' Robben should probably watch his protests. Iniesta went down easily there. I'm not so sure that was a foul. If it was, then a red is correct, but I'm not so sure. Seeing the replay, it was a second yellow. I guess that's a more defensible call, but I still think the foul was soft.

113' There was no need for a yellow there, but Robben is on very thin ice. He's basically asking for a second yellow.

115' Webb missed the deflection...I'm not sure how. He's not had the greatest of games. His assistants have been great though.

117' I think Iniesta was offside there. Replay shows I was wrong and Mullarkey was right. Easy yellow for Mathijsen. He was throwing a tantrum worthy of a two year old.

120' Xavi finally gets the card he deserves, but it's actually not for a dive or dissent.

Ratings will come after dinner.

Updated 12 July at 1320 EDT:
Ratings:
Assistants: Excellent. 9/10. Cann and Mullarkey got every call correct even some very close offsides calls.

Game control: Pretty good. 6.75/10. This one is hard to rate because I feel that the game got away from Webb a couple times. That said, both teams, particularly the Dutch, were fouling pretty hard at times. I think the cards did calm the game and were pretty much all given for clearly reckless challenges or tactical (unsporting) fouls.

So, I might be harsh in my rating given the tough time the Dutch gave him. This appeared to be a very hard game to referee and keep under control, but I just would have liked to see Webb handle it better. Maybe no referee would have been able to do that, but given the way he handled the Champions League Final earlier this year, I expected more. I do think an above average World Cup referee would have completely lost control of the game so maybe even a great performance was what Webb put out and it was just a really tough game, but I still would've liked to see Webb excel.

Big decisions: Average. 5/10. I think de Jong's challenge should've been a red. The second yellow for Heitinga was harsh I thought. I guess it is a yellow if you think that's a foul, but I thought Iniesta went down at the slightest touch on his shoulder. I think he missed the biggest call of the game (de Jong), but his cards were mostly right and he was close to play to make the big calls. Even de Jong could been seen as merely reckless (which gets a yellow) instead of excessive or violent (which gets a red), but I still think Webb will see a replay of the challenge and think he may have gotten that wrong. I think some of the diving could have been dealt with, but the biggest flop by Xavi was kind of hidden from Webb from what I could see.

Overall: Above average. 6.5/10. A tough game was mostly kept under control. I think the biggest call was missed, but the yellow instead of red for de Jong is defensible in law. Maybe my expectations were too high for Webb, and my ratings reflect that. Like I said before, it's tough because it was a very difficult game and so maybe Webb deserves at least a "Good" or "Very Good" for giving us a game that was about the game itself and not really about him and his team, but it is what it is. If I can find Webb's thoughts on his performance and his explanations are convincing maybe I'll change it or maybe it'll confirm my criticisms.

So there's my incredibly wishy-washy ratings. I'm still not sure they should be that low, but we'll see.

Edit: After re-watching the final, I don't think there's many referees that could have handled the game as well as Webb.

Revised ratings:
Game Control: Very good-excellent. 8.5/10
Big Decisions: Good. 7/10
Overall: Very good. 8/10

Referee Rating: Germany v. Spain

Viktor Kassai and his team take charge today.

4' Kassai got the restart correct after that idiot ran on the field. Spain were good sports giving the ball back to Germany since they clearly had possession when Kassai had to stop the game.

10' Easy offside call for the far side assistant on Oezil. Replay showed he might have been just onside at the exact moment the ball left his teammate's foot. It looked quite close though and ESPN didn't draw a line like they normally do, but I think that call was wrong if only barely.

22' Good no call on the flop by a Spanish defender as Klose chased the pass back to Casillas.

24' Looks like the near side assistant missed a fairly close offside call himself. I think ESPN drew their line when the ball was still on the passer's foot and not just after it left, but the Spaniard was still onside.

27' Easy call for the stomp on Podolski. Lucky there was no card there on Ramos. He was late and seemed to be more focused on Podolski than the ball.

The pitch looks terribly torn up already.

36' Not sure there. Replay shows the far side assistant got that offsides call right.

39' Easy call for that foul.

41' Another easy call for Klose's foul.

42' That was not a foul by Boateng. Replay shows it was. It also shows that the near side assistant missed a not-so-close offside call.

44' That didn't look like a foul, but then I got the last one wrong.

45'+1 The ball had gone, but that looked like a pretty clear trip. Replay shows that was a pretty clear penalty. Oezil might have gone down easily, but Ramos seemed to pretty much foul his whole left leg.

First half rating: Pretty good. 6.5/10. Kassai hasn't had much to do and his assistants have missed some offside calls. The penalty shout at the end wasn't absolutely clear, and Kassai was right there. I thought it was pretty clear, but I am rooting for Germany so I'm not entirely unbiased. The game will pick up in the second half and Kassai and his team will have to step up as well. I hope they do because they haven't been exactly outstanding so far.

49' The near side assistant might have missed another offside there, but I don't feel like rewinding to find out :)

This is a chess match. It's fascinating that both defenses essentially need only one wrong touch to break down the attack.

54' That looked like a great tackle. At least there was no card. I thought that was two fouls in a row on Germany, but replay showed the referee just got it right I think.

56' Easy call for the foul by Trochowski.

60' Technically that was a foul on Villa, but not really at this level. He went down really easy too which I'm sure didn't help.

63' That probably was a penalty if the other one was. Well replay showed there was very little contact so that was the right call.

68' That was a foul barely, but Iniesta was looking for it and seemed to run himself into Klose.

69' Easy call for the elbow by Ramos on Podolski.

72' That looked like another flop by Iniesta. There was contact though.

74' Good wave off of offsides since the ball went straight through to Casillas.

76' That seemed soft. Replay shows Xabi got mostly ball and little of his man.

84' That again seemed soft. It looked like Xabi got that right. I don't know if he could have made that tackle without taking his man, but it wasn't a foul for me.

85' That was a foul by Puyol, but outside the box.

Good game, okay referee.

Overall rating: Okay. 6/10. Kassai and his team did alright. There wasn't a whole lot for them to do and I thought they missed more than they should have. The game was kept under control, but I don't feel Kassai had a whole lot to do with that. Both teams were pretty reserved and cautious. There weren't really any hard tackles or any dirty play by either side.

Referee Rating: Uruguay v. Netherlands

Ravashan Irmatov is the referee for this match. He has been great this World Cup and I expect he and his team will continue to well.

13' The far side assistant has gotten some very close offside calls correct so far.

14' Irmatov was well-placed to deny the deliberate hand ball claim by the Dutch.

17' Great tackle by van Persie, good positioning by Irmatov to see it as a fair tackle and then call the later foul by van Persie.

18' What a shot!!! That was incredible.

19' Easy call for the hold by Uruguay.

21' Easy yellow for Pereira for his foul on Robben. He had little chance to get the ball and there was no need to take Robben from behind with both legs.

23' I wasn't sure on my first look about the foul by van Persie, but replay showed a well-spotted shove with his forearm.

27' Irmatov is handling this fracas well. De Zeeuw just got clocked, but Caceres only had eyes for the ball. You could make a case that it was reckless and therefore deserving of a yellow, but I think no card is the correct decision. Good spot for the yellow for Sneijder's reaction to Caceres.

31' Great tackle by Caceres and good positioning by Irmatov.

32' What a dive by Cavani. I know FIFA say if there's contact, it can't be simulation, but a card for exaggeration as unsporting behavior would have been just fine by me there. Not totally necessary though and it's probably better to ignore that sort of thing since that seems to be FIFA's position on it. Unfortunately referees have to do exactly as FIFA say even if it might be better for football to do otherwise. It tends to make calls a little more consistent, but I don't think it's worth it myself.

41' That looked like less of a great shot by Forlan and more of a mistake by Stecklenberg.

45'+2 Missed call by the near side assistant and missed header by Kuyt. It was a closer call than the replay showed thanks to Kuyt's perfectly timed run, but the benefit of the doubt should go to the attacker according to FIFA.

46' Good call by the far side assistant.

51' Good advantage and great save by van Bronkhorst

53' Good advantage. That was somewhat of a dive by Forlan.

59' Not sure what that was. That was kind of a dive I thought. A good tackle there on van der Vaart.

62' That looked like a bit of a flop by van der Vaart.

65' Easy call for the foul on Caceres, but I think he made the most of it. Replay shows he had the bottom of his spikes hit...So it was a foul, but there was no need for his yell and roll.

70' Looked like a good call on no offsides. It didn't look like Sneijder's shot was touched by van Persie. He wasn't in the keeper's line of vision despite what Ian Darke (commentator) says. Replay shows that this was the case. Great job by the far side assistant.

73' What a great header by Robben on a good cross by Kuyt.

75' Looked like that ball might've gone out, but then there have been a few called this World Cup that I thought were definitely in that were called out. The near side assistant hasn't been at his best, but the far side assistant has been outstanding.

77' Another good call by the far side assistant.

78' Easy yellow for Boularouz. Hmmmm. Replay shows he got all ball and it was a clean tackle for me. I think Irmatov missed that one.

89' It looked like a lot of the Uruguayan players were offside there. My own DVR-enabled replay looks like the near side assistant got that one right on.

90' That looked like a decent tackle by von Bommel, the early contact might've been a foul. Replay showed it was easily a foul by van Bommel.

90'+3 Not sure what van Bommel's yellow was for.

Not sure why an extra two minutes were added. The goal and van Bommel? Probably.

Ratings:
Assistants: Very good. 8/10. The near side assistant started off a bit shaky, but pulled it out. The far side assistant was outstanding all game.

Overall: Very good. 8/10. Irmatov kept the game under control and didn't fall for any diving. He missed only a couple small incidents and got all the big decisions correct except probably the booking for Boularouz. A great showing from a refereeing team that has done excellently this whole tournament.

Referee Rating: Netherlands v. Brazil

Yuichi Nishimura from Japan centers this match. I wasn't impressed by him in Uruguay v. France, but by all accounts he's been better in his other two matches (Spain v. Honduras and Paraguay v. New Zealand).

3' & 4' Some easy early calls to settle the game a little.

8' Good call on the offsides on Alves.

9' Great ball, easy call, Robinho was yards onside.

14' Easy yellow for Heitinga. He just reached out and kicked Fabiano. It was nowhere near the ball.

16' Robben exaggerated that quite a bit, but it was clearly a foul. Glad there was no booking there.

18' I'm not sure why Robinho is yelling there, he clearly pulled de Jong over.

22' Easy foul on Lucio.

24' That was a push by Bastos on Robben, but it wasn't anything that for me was at the level of a foul, Robben just made the most of it.

25' Great tackle by de Jong.

26' I didn't see the offside, but the far side assistant has already got several decisions correct and that was probably pretty easy given it came from a long clearance.

28' A little weak, but Kaka was clipped.

30' van Bommel made a good tackle but it wasn't a foul on either side for me or Nishimura.

31' Good advantage and a great shot and save.

32' The Dutch seem to be getting frustrated and are asking for nothing fouls.

33' Kaka looked like he tripped himself when I first saw it, but the replay shows it was a foul.

33' The call on the push by Robinho should calm the Dutch a bit.

34' Did the near-side assistant get that right? Yes he did. Kuyt did great to hold his run. Good awareness by Nishimura and Alves on that "trick" corner.

35' Juan had his hands all over van Persie. I think if he'd kept his hands down he might not have been called for the jump into/over van Persie's back.

37' Not sure why that was a foul, but if it is then it's an easy yellow for persistent infringement. That was a push and maybe a little kick too. Robben seems to be going down easily, but there he got hit decently hard from behind. Robben was braced and low and his reaction to the contact looked genuine so I think it was a good call.

39' Fabiano's time to go down easy. That was a blatant shove by Maicon. He tried to hide it from the ref and assistant, but the assistant still spotted it.

40' Good non-call for Fabiano's roll, but it looked like he kicked out at his defender. Maybe it was just part of the fall. Replay shows van Bommel had an elbow on Fabiano, but that Fabiano did kick out deliberately at van Bommel's nether region.

43' Easy call for the foul on Maicon, but he went down before contact and rolled a bit theatrically.

45' Some good non-calls in a row.

45'+1 Not sure why Robben didn't have a shot when he was ~22 yards out...

45'+1 It was a corner, but I always find it funny when players whine about those calls yet lie blatantly about them any time they can.

First half rating: Slightly above average. 6.5/10. He's done fairly well, but the game has gotten a little out of hand at times and it's not been completely handled at least as far as player reactions and attitudes are concerned. He's gotten somewhat better as the game has gone on so I hope he picks it up in the second half as the players and his team get more tired and the Netherlands get more desperate for an equalizer.

47' That was a good yellow for diving.

49' Not sure how that was a foul on de Jong.

51' That was a foul on van Bommel, but it was 50/50 and asking for a card is unnecessary. That tackle wasn't reckless and it was at midfield.

52' That was a foul, but never a yellow. van Bommel is really annoying me. He's asking for cards for everything.

53' What a mistake by Cesar and his defense.

55' Good offside call by the far side assistant.

61' Not sure whether that contact on Kaka was a foul, but he went over.

63' That hit

64' Easy yellow on de Jong, that's his 4th or 5th foul this game.Lucio's arm, but I think it would have been harsh. He was only a few feet from the ball and had his arm up to try and clear the ball not make himself bigger. A good non-call and good positioning by Nishimura.

68' What a great corner! Good flick by Kuyt and Sneijder was left alone to have a free header. Bad defending again by Brazil.

70' A foul by Alves, but I'm not sure why Nishimura called it back. He didn't seem to signal for the Dutch to wait for a whistle and they're entitled to take it quickly otherwise.

72' Kaka fell over very easily on the arm by Ooijer. He was loooking for a call I think.

73' Melo got a slight tap, but his reaction was dissent for me. Wow. That was a blatant stamp by Melo. An easy red card for that despicable act. I hope he gets banned for more than 3 games for that. Brazil are probably out at this point anyways, but he needs to have serious consequences for that. He was trying to hurt Robben by stamping on his knee. I have other things I'd like to write about that, but they're not appropriate here. That type of blatant disregard for an opponent needs to be eradicated from football. Emotions run high in these games, but there is no excuse for going after another player's knee while he's on the ground.

75' It was a foul on Robben. Robinho needs to watch himself. Lucio does well to get his players away before they get booked.

76' No need for that from Ooijer and we see why some refs keep their cards in separate pockets.

78' This game has gotten away from Nishimura a bit. He's not really had much control in this half.

84' Everyone is asking for fouls for every type of contact now.

87' Great tackle by Juan. Everyone's asking for cards for every actual foul now...

88' That's van Bommel's 5th or 6th foul I think. I'm not sure why he hasn't got a yellow yet. None of his fouls have been terrible, despite Lucio's theatrical fall on the last one, but he has been committing quite a few fouls.

90'+1 Even the normally cool Kaka is yelling at Nishimura now. It's pretty clear that Nishimura does not have any control over this game.

90'+2 Another foul by van Bommel and no card.

90'+3 What a wasted chance by the Dutch.

Second half rating: Average. 5/10. As expected, the game picked up in the second half, but Nishimura didn't step up.

Positioning: Good. 7/10. He was where he needed to be, which makes some of his decisions and non-decisions puzzling.

Game control: Poor. 3/10. This game got away from Nishimura and everyone, especially the players, knew it.

Overall: Average. 5/10. This game needed a great performance from the refereeing team and they gave an average one. Nishimura got all the major decisions right, dismissing the handball call on Lucio, the red for Melo, and other cards. He should have booked van Bommel though. He started losing control of the game late in the first half and completely lost it in the second half. He seemed to be a bit inconsistent in his foul calling and whether he saw through dives or not. I can't blame Nishimura too much, this was a very tough game. It will probably be the toughest Quarterfinal to referee though we'll have to see how Argentina v. Germany goes. Only the best will be able to step up in these types of games and Nishimura showed he was good by getting the big decisions right, but that he wasn't great by losing control of the game.